Talk:Bard/Strategy/@comment-4091261-20150826145951
Nooblets guide to If you ever wanted to play a support, whose entire skillset is essentially an excuse for not being in lane (because the jungler is a prick and instalocked), then this is the champino 4 u. is a support-mage who only needs to be in bot lane when two enemies are present to shrek the ADC. Due to roaming nature, many comp "plain ._." errs will whine about this guy making claims like, "he's never there for his adc," or "he's such a weak champ, needs buffs plz." I'll say this right now, anyone who is guilty of these actions are nooblets. Don't give up hope--heck that's what this is here for: to unooblify the populace. This problem can be solved by understanding two important gameplay mechanics: harassment, and roaming. ---- Harassment Perhaps the most important part of playing is understanding how to harass the enemy with the guy. There are two important priorities to take: using his abilities more, and surviving to deal damage. You might think to yourself, "why is spamming the heck out of abilities important?" Well, it is because there are a massive amount of opportunities, has, to use his abilities. can be used at an extreme range if targeted at a minion as the travel range and the bind range are separate values. At maximum travel and bind range, the stun can hit to up to 1400 units away--the same range as fully charged. The charging heal mechanic on the is only useful when setting many shrines down. The walls near the river can be used to retreat or gap close with and creates opportunities for portal stuns if the enemy decides to take it. Aside from cutting off the enemies' escape, can be used for stopping Damage output temporarily, splitting a charging enemies backline from its frontline, and delaying a teamfight for a teleport entry. So might as well just use the abilities before the opportunities slip away. Although for his reliable primary poking tool, , he needs to come fairly close in range in order to throw the creep; meaning that needs to build some form of tankiness to actually trade blows with his enemy efficiently. only damaging spell is ; even then, it is powerful due to the free it opens up. Most of damage otherwise comes from his . This means that to stay relevant for damage, needs to be tanky as well. A major milestone to achieve in lane is to be able to survive long enough to throw all the meeps and at least two instances of in one fight--as usually this much required to secure a kill. Inside teamfights, he would need to up his to at least three instances. If this can be done, then can throw all the damage he wants. It is just important to understand that the purpose of going tanky on is to deal his damage. Without the actual damage to back it up, securing kills will be impossible due to his drop in damage when he has no meeps and available. That said, should only use his meeps and binds to harass the enemies, using plain autoattacks are unnecessary and inefficient. These "plain" autoattacks will cause the adc to comp "plain" that, " dies all the time." Getting the hang of this laning technique should make the lane go smoothly as the pressure offers is pretty convenient--due to the AA and the emergency heals. Though, once an enemy leaves, that is cue to scram--as he loses all usefulness he previously had by staying in a 2v1 lane. ---- Roaming should never be subject to a standstill in a 2v1 situation. The reason being is that turtling destroys in a 2v1. He is no longer able to stun the enemy easily or use his portal safely. The enemy is antsy about and is ready to dodge at a moments notice, and the shrines just sit unused due to no enemy harassment occurring. It is simply a waste of time to sit in a 2v1 when can get his and show Jasmine a whole new world. Understanding the reason why, when, and how to roam is important to preventing derps. There are many reasons why wants to roam. The physical reasons are to obtain mana and drop wards around the map. On the other hand, the mental reason is due to jungle being stolen away from you. No seriously, understanding gameplay, he might as well be a jungler if it weren't for the fact that his jungle clear is weak as shit and his utility is so dang huge. uses his abilities to take advantage of overextended enemies--even when returning to lane. All he requires is to know when there will be strong follow up, just like a jungler does. Though it doesn't always mean ganks, even in jungle encounters, a good and Teleport timing is able to turn fights around. should roam as much as possible. The only time shouldn't roam is when the enemy forces are more overwhelming than the allied forces. A good time to roam is when you notice the enemies have gone back, an enemy dies, or if the lane is pushed and your adc isn't present. In any case, should always be present when the enemy gets a bit too cocky and only roam when the enemy is weak and playing way too passively. These opportunities don't last very long and usually passes before any ganks can be made early on--which leads to how to roam. When roaming as it is important to consider the time interval between when things are safe and when things become dangerous. It is important to know the time it takes for the enemies to return to lane, because it allows you to return smoothly without having the ally adc taking any harassment. With the time in mind, should first ward the jungle as much as possible. During the warding process, should be collecting chimes in order to speed up the warding and to return some lost mana while spamming in lane. As the time runs short, try to appear in lane right after the enemy does; that way, if the enemy decides to do something stupid, can immediately react and punish them hard. As mid-game begins, death timers are longer allowing some portal ganks to occur. Always try to flank a disadvantaged enemy, it is way too easy to do with . As late-game trails along, laning pretty much doesn't exist at all. So gauging when to stay with the group is dependant on how cocky the enemies are. This is where the team comp really sets in. If the team has a gigantic amount of poke, can roam a lot during this stage and any enemy who decides to run. With a heavy engaging comp, must stay with the group and use portals to make chasing more effective. With a passive anti-engaging comp, should roam near the group to cut away portions of the enemy team with his to destroy the enemies left behind. ---- Getting the hang of harassing and roaming opens up Aladdin's "Whole New World." Playing does take a bit of thought to understand the timing of these opportunities that occur, but once you understand when these opportunities occur and take advantage of them, it's pretty easy to make big plays. So if you have or find him in free week one day, spam ctrl 2 and 3 and unooblify yourselves.